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This Sedra
deals with the social and economic life of the
Chosen People. With the social and economic life
of Western Civilization deteriorating, there is
much that we can learn from these wise principles
for the Holy Nation.
Marriage
is foundational for a healthy society. Men and
women need to come together, and have children,
and raise the next generation. Since sin has touched
every part of our being, we need laws to regulate
marriage.
In our
society, marriage is under attack. There are growing
numbers who live together outside of marriage,
and have children outside of marriage. The divorce
rate has skyrocketed. First we deal with marriage
and divorce.
Israel
was allowed to fight in just wars. Among many
peoples throughout history, women who were taken
captive were raped or killed. This must not happen
among God's Holy People. If a woman was taken
captive, and a Jewish man was attracted to her,
this is the procedure: she sheds the externals
of the old life. she must shave off the hair of
her head, trim her nails, remove her old clothes,
and put on new clothes. She is casting off the
old, and putting on the new (much like the children
of God, redeemed by the Son of God, must cast
off their old way of life, and put on a new way
of life). She is allow a month for mourning -
after all, it's possible that she will never see
her parents again. After the month, she is eligible
for marriage. If a Jewish man married a non-Jewish
captive, and if she was then displeasing to him,
he could divorce her - but then, she was a free
woman. The man had sex with her, and humbled her.
She had suffered enough; she has given enough
of herself! She could not be sold into slavery,
or mistreated.
Another
situation regarding marriage. Under the older
covenant, Jewish men were allowed to have more
than one wife. If a man had two wives, and he
really loved one, and tolerated or disliked the
other, he couldn't overturn the law of inheritance,
that the firstborn son is to receive a double
portion. That was the right of the firstborn son;
he was the head of the family, the priest of the
family, and had special obligations, and was to
receive a double portion of the inheritance.
Now we
deal with the results of marriage - children.
If a man and a woman had a stubborn and rebellious
and disobedient son, devoted to partying - eating
and drinking, and wouldn't change his ways when
his parents tried to correct his behavior (imagine
this scenario: "Sholomo, you lazy bum, go join
your father in the field. The harvest is ready,
and we have to bring it in immediately, before
it is ruined. Go to work this morning!" "No mom,
I've got other plans - me and a couple of friends
are going to party like there's no tomorrow!"),
they were entitled to take him to the elders of
the city, announce his crimes to the leaders of
the city, and that he was incorrigible, and have
the son stoned to death. Good-for-nothing, rebellious,
evil men, were not to be tolerated! "Anarchy in
the home breeds anarchy in society" (Ryrie). My
understanding is that this was rarely, if ever,
carried out among the Jewish people - but this
useful threat was always there!
The last
two verses deal with the limits of disgracing
a dead body. People in the ancient world, if they
were particularly displeased with someone they
considered to be a criminal, after they killed
him, might hang his body on a tree - sometimes
for a considerable period of time. The body would
start decomposing, or be eaten by animals or birds
(see Genesis 40:19). This disgusting practice
was not to happen among the holy people. If a
person was put to death, and if he had done something
particularly bad, and violated the Law; if by
the Law of the Lord he was considered to be cursed
by God, his body could be hung on a tree - but
the corpse had to be buried the same day as the
execution.
Now, Rabbi
Paul argues that all of us have violated the Law
of God. All of us are under the curse of God.
Each and every one of us deserve to be executed,
and then be hung on a tree. But God sent His Son
into this world, who perfectly kept all of God's
Law; and then Yeshua died, and was hung on a tree
- the cross. There He willingly became our Substitute.
Messiah
was full of the blessing of God, perfectly obedient
to His Father, full of eternal life and salvation,
but on the tree planted on Golgotha's soil, He
willingly substituted Himself for us, and took
upon Himself the curse that all of us deserved.
And those who believe in Him, and prove it by
serving Him, receive His blessed life instead
- a life filled with salvation, and life and righteousness!
We start
chapter 22 with the instructions for property
that is lost or missing. If you find a animal
that is lost, or someone's missing property, you
have an obligation to take responsibility for
it, and care for it until it is claimed by your
countryman. You are not allowed to neglect that
animal or that missing property.
I had
the opportunity to put this instruction into practice
this week. I started taking Sweetie for a walk,
and discovered that a neighbor's dog got loose.
I really wanted to continue on my walk with Sweetie,
but God's Word spoke to my conscience, and Sweetie
and I made the effort to get the other dog out
of the street, take custody of it, and call the
owner. Sweetie and I had to take a shorter walk
than I originally planned, but that's OK.
Next comes
instruction regarding proper dressing. Men should
not dress in women's clothes, and women should
not dress in men's clothing. God purposely created
us male and female, with differences in gender,
and those differences in gender are not to be
blurred. Those who want to engage in this kind
of gender perversion and cross dress are engaging
in something that is "toh-eh-vah" - an abomination,
and make themselves detestable to the Lord. I
don't like movies with this theme, like Robin
Williams in Mrs Doubtfire, or Dustin Hoffman in
Tootsie. The Lord is concerned with the wise use
of the resources in creation, and so if you find
a bird's nest with a mother bird along with eggs
or young, you are only allowed to take the eggs
or the young, but not the mother too. The mother
needs to survive and replenish her young.
We ignored
this principle and overhunted the buffalo. Some
of the whale populations have been drastically
reduced, and I recently read that some of the
great fish populations are down by 90 percent
due to overfishing. It's tragic and foolish and
dishonors the Creator when we greedily overhunt
or overfish.
When constructing
a building, the safety of others must be a consideration.
A fence must be built on a roof, so that no one
may fall off. If you don't, and someone falls,
you are responsible, you are negligent, and will
be found guilty. Builder, contractor, homeowner,
don't think to yourself: "But it will cost me
more to install all those safety features." It
will, but isn't the health, safety and well-being
of human beings more important?
God has
laws that He has built into His creation, and
we want to respect those laws, and not sow two
kinds of seeds in the same area, so that they
become mixed, and infect other crops as well.
In our day, there are many who want to mix genetic
material from different species - adding spider
DNA to goats is one recent example that comes
to mind.
We are
not to plow with an ox and a donkey together.
They are not equally yoked. They will go at different
rates. Their strengths and weaknesses are too
great. Nor are we to be unequally yoked, by entering
into relationship where we are out of step with
the other. A Believer marrying a non-believer
comes to mind ....
We are
not to wear sha'atnez - clothing of wool and linen
made from flax mixed together. We are to remember
that we are a holy people, and are to be pure
- unmixed with evil. Charles Ryrie observes that
it is said that idolatrous priests wore garments
of this mixture, thinking it to be magical.
On the
positive side, we are to have tassels on the four
corners of our outer garment. They remind us of
God's laws. As we look at them we remember the
Lord's commands. So, when we are out in the world,
and look at the tassels on our clothes, we have
a constant reminder that we are in the world to
represent the Lord, and serve Him and do His commands.
From verses
14 to the end of the chapter, we have the statutes
for sexual behavior. The men and women among the
Holy People were not to engage in sexual activity
before marriage. If a man married a woman, and
later found out that she was not a virgin, that
she had been sexually active before her marriage
to him, she was to be executed in front of her
father's house. What a horrible thing that would
be, and what a lasting shame that would bring
to her parents!
If the
charge was false, and the woman and her family
could prove that she indeed had been a virgin,
then the man who brought the false charge against
his wife was to be punished, and fined 100 shekels
of silver - approximately 50 ounces worth, and
the money given to the girl's father, because
by falsely charging her he had besmirched her
family's honor, which needed to be restored.
Young
man, young woman, what you do, and how you conduct
yourself, especially sexually, reflects on your
whole family! Don't dishonor your mother and father,
your people, yourself, and your God by engaging
in sex outside of marriage.
If a man
was found having sexual relations with a married
woman, it is a very serious crime; they are violating
the covenant between husband and wife, they are
destroying the family unity, they may bring a
bastard into the society, who won't grow up with
a whole family. Both the man and the woman who
commit adultery must die. This sheds some light
on the situation mentioned in the book written
by John, where it was only the woman who had been
caught in adultery who was taken to Yeshua, for
Him to pronounce judgment. If this was a fair
trial, the man must be included as well.
The next
situation about sexual behavior has to do with
a virgin girl, engaged to be married, but is found
to have had sex with another man. If this takes
place in a city, where the woman could resist,
and cry out, but she does not, then it is assumed
that she was a willing participant, and is guilty.
But if
this takes place outside the city, and no one
is around, she is given the benefit of the doubt;
it is assumed that the woman was not a willing
participant. She is not guilty.
If a man
is attracted to a virgin woman, who is not engaged,
and seduces her or rapes her, this sad situation
can be redeemed. He must atone to the parents
by giving them 50 shekels of silver - about 25
ounces. He must marry the girl, take care of her,
and provide for her the rest of her life. He can
never divorce her.
The last
situation in this chapter deals with preventing
a man from marrying his step-mother. A father
and his son were never to share the same woman.
That must not happen. If your father died, you
did inherit his property, but you didn't inherit
his wife, as may have occurred in other societies.
Chapter
23 deals with those who can be considered part
of the community of Israel: no man who has had
his genitals removed - I would think as part of
some pagan religious practice, and not in an accident,
or due to a injury in battle - could be counted
as a part of the community of Israel.
No momzer
- a child from a forbidden relationship, like
adultery, or incest, could ever become a member
of Israel; nor could his descendants, even to
the tenth generation - which in essence meant
forever.
No Ammonite
or Moabite men could become part of the community
of Israel. They had shown nothing but hostility
to the Jewish people, and they were to be avoided.
The women could become part of Israel, if they,
like Ruth, turned to the God of Israel.
Edomites
and Egyptians, however, were another situation.
They could not become part of the Jewish community,
but the third generation that descended from them
could. So, if an Egyptian man married a Jewish
woman, and had children with her, and those children
married other Jewish people, the grandchildren
were considered to be part of the community of
Israel.
When Israel
went out to fight a just war, we men had to keep
ourselves pure. We had to keep our camp clean
in God's sight. We didn't want to alienate our
Great Ally, who was with us, who we depended on
to bring us victory! So, if a man had a nocturnal
emission of semen, he became unclean. He had to
go outside the camp. Then if he bathed in water,
he became clean at sunset, the beginning of a
new day, and then could reenter the camp.
Human
excrement had to be properly disposed of. So each
man was required to carry a shovel and go to the
area for the latrine, and cover up his excrement.
Basic hygiene is important!
In many
societies, slaves were terribly mistreated. God's
Law did not allow them to be abused. If a slave
ran away from a non-Jewish master, he was not
to be returned to that master. He was to be given
refuge, and allowed to live within Israel.
Canaanite
religion involved temple prostitutes - both male
and female. The sons and daughters of Israel must
never engage in this perverse behavior, which
was an abomination. Money that was earned as the
result of sexual perversion - male or female prostitution,
was to be rejected, even if it was attempted to
be given to the House of God.
Interest
is not to be charged to a fellow member of covenant
community. Our attitude is to use the extra resources
that the Lord has blessed us with to help the
members of the community. We can charge interest
to those outside of the community, however.
If you
promise to give something to the Lord, you should
do it right away. Don't delay! That would displease
the Almighty, and cause Him to seek you out for
punishment. Better not to make a vow or promise
if you aren't serious about keeping it.
If you
were passing by a neighbor's vineyard or field
of grain, and you were hungry, you could eat some
grapes or pluck some grain to satisfy your hunger,
but you could not take any home with you. It would
be like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet, and
asking for a doggie bag - very tacky, and wrong!
"Hunger, not greed, may be satisfied. Kindness
must not be abused" (Hertz Commentary).
Chapter
24 gives us additional laws regarding marriage.
Under the covenant made with us at Sinai, divorce
is allowed (see Leviticus 21:7, Numbers 30:9).
If a man divorces his wife because he has found
"ervat devar" - something indecent, an indecent
thing, in her (and the implication is that she
is guilty of improper sexual behavior), then he
could divorce her. He had to write her a formal
document, a certificate that indicated that they
were cut off from each other.
She was
then allowed to remarry. But, if the second husband
divorced her, or died, she was not allowed to
remarry the first husband. The idea is to prevent
a kind of legalized adultery from taking place,
or the wife from being swapped. Adultery and wife
swapping is an abomination, and those sins, and
all sexual sin, brings sin to the nation, which
the Lord must eventually punish. I understand
that quite a bit of adultery, and wife-swapping
is taking place in our nation today. Sexually
immorality is rampant. It displeases the Lord,
and adds more drops to our cup of iniquity, which
is rapidly getting fuller and fuller.
If a man
was newly married, he was absolved from serving
in the army for one year. He could stay at home,
and make his bride happy.
Here are
some social laws concerning economics: if you
were in debt to someone, you couldn't be charged
interest, but a pledge could be taken - some piece
of property that you the creditor would keep until
the loan was repaid. But, it couldn't be something
that would harm the man's ability to live - like
a millstone, by which he ground grain to make
his food. If he pledged his cloak, it had to be
returned to him at the end of the day, so he could
sleep in it and not be cold.
Nor could
a creditor enter the home of a person to take
his pledge. Even though he was poor, his dignity,
and the sanctity of his home was still to be respected.
Employees are to be paid on time. If you contracted
with them to pay them on a daily basis, they need
to be paid at the end of each day, so that they
can buy what they need to survive.
Because
someone is weaker than you - an alien, a widow
or orphan, you are not to take advantage of them.
You are to treat them with kindness and fairness.
We of all people show know this, because we were
aliens in Egypt, and weak, and the Egyptians mistreated
us, and so we should never repeat their sin. So,
don't think that the weak and the poor are worthless,
and not worthy of your help. You were weak and
poor in Egypt, and the Lord helped you, didn't
He? When harvesting our crops, we were to leave
some of the crops for the poor to harvest. We
don't squeeze out every shekel from the harvest,
but we think of the poor around us, to make sure
that they are provided for. God promises to bless
those with this generous, godly attitude.
Kidnaping
is a terrible, terrible crime, and kidnapers are
to be put to death. They have crossed a very important
line, and aren't to be tolerated.
Punishment
must be limited to the perpetrator: parents must
not be put to death for the sins of their children,
and children must not be put to death for the
sins of their parents. Everyone is to be put to
death for their own sins.
Chapter
25 starts off with laws for the penal system:
if you felt that you were harmed by a fellow Israeli,
you could bring the matter to the court. If a
crime had been committed, the criminal could be
punished with a whipping, with a maximum of 40
lashes. Over time the Jewish community reduced
this to 39 lashes, to make sure that the limit
was never exceeded by mistake, and God's Law violated
(see 2 Corinthians 11:24).
Notice
that no one was sent to jail for months or years.
Under God's judicial system, there were no jails,
which are expensive to operate, and generally
don't reform the prisoner, but only make him worse.
If a person
was a menace to society, and incorrigible, he
could be killed. But if a person could be redeemed,
he was fined, or whipped, and then it was over.
His punishment was quick, and the man was back
on track with his life.
I can't
helping wondering if the Torah's system isn't
superior to our present judicial and penal system.
Speaking from experience, there were times in
my youth where I could have used a good whipping.
Don't
muzzle the ox while he is threshing your grain.
Even the ox, if he is working, deserves a portion
of the crops, and can eat some of the harvest.
If the Lord is concerned that animals are treated
fairly, and reimbursed for their labors, how much
more should employers pay a fair wage to their
employees! And, those who are employed by God's
Holy Community should be paid well as well! Rabbi
Glenn and I are thankful to you, the generous
people of Congregation Shema Yisrael, for honoring
us in this way.
Widows
needed to be provided for, and the family name
needed to be carried on, so if a man died without
an heir, the brother of the dead husband had the
obligation to marry the widow. The first-born
son bears the name of the dead husband. If the
brother was unwilling to marry his brother's widow,
and raise an heir for his brother, he was publically
humiliated by having his sandal pulled off, and
being spit at. This law forms part of the story
in the book of Ruth. Do you remember the name
of the relative who was closer to the family of
Elimelech than Boaz, who refused to marry Ruth?
None of us remember his name, because he was not
considered worthy to have his name mentioned!
If two
men are fighting, the wife of one must not interfere
by grabbing the genitals of the other man. That's
dirty fighting, and very painful, it's perverse,
and the damage may cause the man to become infertile,
and prevent him from bringing new lives into this
world. The punishment is one of the most severe
- cutting off the women's hand. I would speculate
that since the penalty was so severe, no women
in Israel ever dared to do such a thing! This
penalty was eventually reduced to a fine.
The Lord
demands honesty in the way we earn our living,
and conduct ourselves in business. In the ancient
world, buying and selling, paying and receiving
payment, was commonly done by the weighing on
a scale. Those who wanted to cheat you would have
differing weights and differing measures. They
would have a weight that weighed less for what
they paid and a weight that weighed more for what
they received; this was done to cheat, but it
was done deceptively, disguised as doing right.
Cheating in business is an abomination to the
Lord of righteousness.
We way
the Holy Nation was to relate to Ammonites, Moabites,
Edomites and Egyptians was given before. The Parasha
ends with the way we are to relate to the Amalekites.
They showed predatory hatred and aggressive hostility
for us, and mercilessly killed our weaken stragglers
when the Lord was saving us out of Egypt. They
would never change, and would not be redeemed,
and Israel was to give them no quarter, but blot
out their name from under Heaven.
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